DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           GE (General Electric) is a business supergiant that functions globally and manufactures products that service the consumer electric, healthcare, aircraft engine, power generation and financial industries.  It has become a powerful force in over a hundred countries and employs thousands.[1]  GE is continuing into the 21st century as a leader in innovative technology.  Among the projects GE has undertaken is the GE Wattstation.  It is GE’s solution to automotive hybrid electric needs and one of the company’s forthcoming initiatives in green energy.  The Wattstation is GE’s first step forward into the future of hybrid and electric vehicle technology.

            GE was founded in the late 19th century.  It was originally founded by Thomas Edison, and named “Edison General Electric Company.”  From there it grew as it merged with other companies.[2]  In 1900, GE established the first industrial lab in the United States.  In 1919, right after World War I ended, GE partnered with AT&T to “form the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to develop radio technology.”2  In the late ‘30s, GE introduced the fluorescent lamps, and by 1955 it had manufactured a nuclear reactor for the United States Navy.  GE acquired Utah International in 1976; this was a mining company that cultivated iron, uranium, coal and copper, in addition to producing energy sources like natural gas and oil.  This was the beginning of GE’s forceful push towards energy technology innovation.  The famous Jack Welch assumed the position of CEO and chairman of GE in 1981[3] GE’s investments boosted its revenue over $100 billion in 1998 for the first time.  According to Forbes Magazine, GE is the world’s second largest company in 2010, after JP Morgan Chase.[4]  In this position, GE was at the crossroads between a century of achievement and the future of technological success.

            In 2005, GE conceived the newest chapter of its energy brand: Ecomagination.  Ecomagination is part of GE’s initiative in solving environmental challenges and finding new and innovative solutions for global energy problems, including a reduction in green house omissions.  With GE devoted to investment in the research and development sector of Ecomagination, it has brought more than 90 green-friendly products into the market under the banner of Ecomagination.1  As a result, GE had earned over $18 billion in revenue in 2009 from an initial investment over five years of $5 billion.[5]  GE’s future goals in Ecomagination include introducing and integrating efficiency in energy operations by powering the electric grid in both the residential and industrial sector with communication capabilities.  They hope to connect the lines of communication so that all the system utilities, electric grid, consumer electric consumption and power plant generation can be linked and reduce green house gas emission by monitoring energy needs and supplying them in the amounts they are needed.  This is Ecomagination’s Smart Grid initiative.

            Powered by Smart Grid, GE’s Wattstation is the latest Ecomagination product to come out of research and development.  According to GE, the “Wattstation” is an electric vehicle charger.1  Wattstations are designed for easy-to-use electric charging, and can be conveniently adopted at the regional and local level.  GE’s Wattstation is designed by well renowned industrial designer Yves Behar.  Behar is based in San Francisco, and has been a part of many innovative projects, including MIT’s One Laptop for One Child initiative.  According to Behar, his motivation for designing the Wattstation was to bring a “user friendly, smart, elegant and healthy noise-free device.”[6]  The Wattstation can decrease the usual charging time for electric vehicles from 12 to 18 hours to four to eight hours, which is the full charging cycle of a standard 24 kWh battery, usually used in hybrid electric vehicles.  The Wattstation achieves this efficiency because it is powered by GE’s innovative technology, Smart Grid 2.0.  The Wattstation fits right into any urban environment.  It will be commercially available globally in 2011 and GE plans to bring a specialized home version of the charger in 2011 as well.[7]

            Wattstations will provide what will soon become a necessity in the evolving, global automotive markets.    Evidence of this need can be seen in studies done about the growing trends of eco-friendly car sales.  In a study done in November 2010 by JD Power & Associates, it was concluded that over the next ten years, sales for global hybrid and plug in hybrid cars will increase from less than 1% of all total car sales to over 5.5% (more than 3.5 million car sales) annually.7

 

 

 

This project growth reflects the projected need for more energy-efficient and green friendly products.  An increase in electric vehicles will mean a need in an increase in power supply and maintenance products for these vehicles, like GE’s Wattstation.

            This need for more eco-friendly products is a direct result of the depreciating resources of the Earth.  Because of various factors, including political conflicts, foreign dependence on oil, and environmental changes that are a consequence of human abuse of natural resources, there is a shift in global trends towards seeking renewable sources of energy.  These energy sources are sought to be safer, more efficiently produced than the burning of fossil fuels, and are expected to make the United States more self-sufficient in meeting its energy needs. 

The political implications of renewable energy are directly related to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  US involvement with countries in the Middle East, and the diplomatic concessions made, are oftentimes due to a trading partnership for petroleum and the nation’s dependence on oil.  Opponents of these wars sometimes accuse the government’s interest in access to oil fields as the real motivations behind the invasions.  The United States is the largest consumer of petroleum in the world.  The burning of coal and fossil fuels to provide the energy needs of an automobile nation also affects the atmosphere.  Carbon dioxide is emitted as a byproduct of this burning, and pollutes the atmosphere by trapping heat in an effect called global warming.  This global warming leads to the melting of polar ice caps, and a subsequent rise in sea level which causes an increase in the spread of diseases; an increase in the ratio of salt water to fresh, drinkable water; and an increase in unhealthy thermal radiation.

In addition, offshore drilling for oil needs has become a controversial approach to the energy needs of the 21st century.  An example of this is the disastrous BP Gulf Oil Spill in the spring and summer of 2010.  The environmental hazards that this kind of mining poses to marine wildlife and seafood supplies is significant.  This is why companies like GE are recognizing a shift in energy production and are creating their version of solutions by means of products.  Investment in cleaner, safer energy is more quickly needed than ever.  Even the American automotive industry in Detroit has started to realize the need for cleaner vehicles and is reacting with a line of vehicles adaptive to this global movement.  An example of this is Ford’s Fusion Hybrid and the Tesla Roadster 2.5.

            In this atmosphere, the need for GE’s Wattstation becomes obvious.  It is a supportive solution to the growing hybrid electric vehicle market.  The Wattstation will solve the problem of charging electric cars on the go.  When Wattstations become available on urban streets, their presence will be a motivator and an incentive for more consumer interest.  They may drive people who did not think twice of the option of electric vehicles to consider them as a realistic possibility.  Consumers will have the option to charge electric vehicles while they are at work, buying groceries, doing laundry or a myriad of other everyday errands, because these Wattstations will line the streets, much the way car meters do along sidewalks.  All these factors and trends have set in the motion the best climate in which the Wattstation will become a necessity, much the way mobile phones, which were novelties when they were first becoming popular, are now considered indispensable by many.

           

 

 

             The Wattstation is made up of aluminum and plastic parts.  Its shape and construction was intentional and designed to be weather proof and withstand rain and snow.  The display on the Wattstation is smooth and at a slight angle which prevents the accumulation of precipitation.  The Wattstation display is also angled and sized in such a manner that it can be seen from a distance.  There is an LED ring around the display which lights up with different colors; this allows for better visibility and acts as an indicator to show the status of the Wattstation—whether it is available for charging or not.  A red colored ring indicates that the Wattstation is out of order and a blue colored one indicates that the Wattstation is ready for use. 

            The design of the Wattstation is simple, clean and elegant.  It is small enough to be easily integrated into an urban landscape.  Wattstations have a retractable electric pump, much like a gas pump.  This pump operates without any noise.1  One of the most important features of the Wattstation is that it can be customized by different cities into their grid system and adapted to fit the urban design of their streets.  This means the color of the metal and plastic parts, the height and width of the Wattstation are all adjustable.  In addition, the Wattstation can serve as a multifunctional device.  Its industrial design can be integrated with parking meters and it can function as an information point of service as well.  This way less urban space is used and at the same time people have the option of charging their cars while they are parked there.  The fact that the Wattstation can decrease the charging time for a car from between 12 and 18 hours to between four and eight hours, as mentioned earlier, is another immediate and main feature of its design.  The Wattstation is able to provide this efficient charging time because it is powered by GE’s Smart Grid 2.0.

            GE’s Smart Grid 2.0 is another innovation for energy efficiency that is part of GE’s Ecomagination.  The way it works is that the existing grid system, including power generation, plants, grid station and distribution system, is overlaid with a communication layer.  All these systems will be able to communicate in real time to make smart decisions with the help of computers, computer programming, relays and switches.  This Smart Grid system will help domestic and commercial consumers.  The electric meters in residential buildings will have a network card which will be connected to all the devices and appliances in the building.  This will enable monitoring and tracking of energy consumption at any given time and transmit that data to the grid station, which can make smart decisions such as how much power needs to be produced and which power-generating resource (such as thermal, hydro or gas turbines) should be used.  Smart Grid 2.0 also tracks peak and off-peak energy consumption hours, which allows utility companies to be efficient not only for their own benefit but also for the benefit of the environment.5  Smart Grid 2.0 will be able to monitor which Wattstation is in use, and which is not.  For example, if EV’s are plugged in at night to be charged at Wattstations on a neighborhood sidewalk, and there is less power needed inside the residential buildings surrounding these Wattstations, utility companies can improve their system by channeling the power where it is needed most. 

            There are, however, some weaknesses to the Wattstation technology.  Anything installed on a sidewalk and open to public use is also subject to vandalism.  Payment method for Wattstations also presents a problem for the consumer.  There is an ambiguity surrounding this matter since GE has not made it clear how they will collect payment for charging: whether it will be done at the Wattstation itself, or by a method of prepayment.  The availability of Wattstations planned for installation has been limited to metropolitan areas1 and is not a feasible means of charging EV’s for long distance travel along highways and expressways (no one will want to stop along a highway route and charge an EV for four to eight hours).  The short life of batteries in electric vehicles is also an indirect weakness in the adaptation of Wattstations in the everyday life of a consumer.  This is because battery life is a reason why people are turned off from buying EV’s in the first place, in essence making Wattstations useless. 

            In terms of opportunity and market, the Wattstation has a promising market share due to the production of electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt.  Many more EV’s are in the pipeline, and are creating the need for Wattstations.  As a very good business decision, GE has also partnered with their competition, Shai Agassi’s company “Better Place.”[8]  Better Place is a leading EV service provider.  This joint venture will provide EV service stations which will include electric chargers such as the Wattstation, battery swap services and financing for batteries, etc.

            Before implementing the GE Wattstation, GE should implement this technology on a smaller scale to test out the consumer reaction.  A good testing ground would be paid and hotel parking lots in New York City, as well as big, suburban campuses like Stony Brook University.  The Wattstation is a very critical and much needed leap towards green solutions.  But like any other technology, it has to go through an evolution in development and testing to becoming a success. 


[1] “GE Introduces Smart Grid Compatible Electric Vehicle Charger: Press Release.  GENewsCenter.com.  July 13th, 2010.  Accessed December 11th, 2010.  URL: http://www.genewscenter.com/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=10582&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=1

[2] “General Electric Company.”  FundingUniverse.com. Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 63.  St. James Press, 2004.  Accessed December 11th, 2010.  URL: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/General-Electric-Company-Company-History.html

[3] “A Conversation With Jack Welch.”  MITWorld.com. April 12th, 2007.  Accessed December 12th, 2010.  URL: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/466 

[4] “The Global 2000.”  Forbes.com.  April 21st, 2010.  Accessed December 11th, 2010.  URL: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/18/global-2000-10_The-Global-2000_Rank.html

[5] “Fact Sheet: GE Ecomagination.” Ecomagination.com.  Copyright 2010 General Electric Company.  Accessed December 11th, 2010.  URL: http://www.ecomagination.com/about/fact-sheet/

[6] “GE’s Wattstation Electric Vehicle Charger Hits Streets in 2011.”  FastCompany.com.  July 13th, 2010.  Accessed December 12th, 2010.  URL: http://www.fastcompany.com/1669747/ges-wattstation-ev-charger-gets-a-dose-of-design-thinking-from-yves-behar

[7] Martin, Terry. “Global Hybrid, EV Boom: More Hope Than Reality.”  GoAuto.com. November 5th, 2010.  Accessed November 8th, 2010. 

[8] “GE and Better Place Partner to Accelerate EV Infrastructure Deployment.”  BetterPlace.com. September 22nd, 2010.  Accessed September 14th, 2010.  URL: http://www.betterplace.com/the-company-pressroom-pressreleases-detail/index/id/ge-and-better-place-partner-to-accelerate-ev-infrastructure-deploymentmain title wattstation edited for e-portfolio.png

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.